Get an advance payment of Universal Credit

You can ask for an advance payment of Universal Credit to help you get by while you're waiting for your first payment. You can also ask for an advance payment if your circumstances have changed and you expect your Universal Credit payments to increase.

Without an advance payment you won’t get any money until at least 5 weeks after you apply for Universal Credit.

You should ask for an advance payment if you don’t think you’ll have enough money to live on between when you apply and when you get your first payment.

The advance payment is a loan - you’ll have to pay it back, but you won’t need to pay any interest.

Calls to these numbers are free. It’s best to call from the phone number you gave the DWP when you set up your Universal Credit account. You'll have a shorter wait and be put through to the same person who handled previous calls you've made.

You can borrow up to a month of your Universal Credit entitlement. The DWP will tell you if you can get an advance payment - you’ll usually find out on the same day you ask for it.

Once the DWP have agreed to an advance payment you should get the money in 3 working days. Tell the DWP if you need it sooner than this - they can pay you on the same day if you’d have no other money to live on.

The DWP will pay the advance into the same bank account you’re using for your Universal Credit claim.

If you borrow a whole month's payment make sure you keep some back to pay your rent. Rent is included in your Universal Credit payment - it isn't usually paid straight to your landlord.

If you've already had your interview

You can phone the Universal Credit helpline to ask for an advance payment or apply through your online account. You can ask up to 1 month minus 3 working days after you apply for Universal Credit.

It’s best to ask as soon as possible. Once you claim Universal Credit it will take at least 5 weeks for you to get your first payment (sometimes more). So you'll need to think about how much money you'll need until your first payment.

Calls to these numbers are free. It’s best to call from the phone number you gave the DWP when you set up your Universal Credit account. You'll have a shorter wait and be put through to the same person who handled previous calls you've made.

Example

Alice applies for Universal Credit on Monday 1 October 2018.

One month after this would be Thursday 1 November 2018.

Three working days before that would be Monday 29 October 2018.

So Alice has until Monday 29 October 2018 to ask for an advance payment. It’s still best if she asks as soon as possible, so she can get her money sooner.

Repaying the advance payment

The DWP will automatically take repayments from your Universal Credit until you’ve paid the advance back. They’ll tell you how much the repayments will be and how long it will take for you to pay the advance back.

You can spend up to 12 months paying an advance back. The DWP shouldn’t ask you to pay it back sooner than this if you can’t afford it - tell your work coach if the repayments will cause you hardship. You can ask to pay it back quicker if you want to.

If you're refused an advance payment

You can ask the DWP to look at the decision again if they won’t give you an advance payment. It will help if you can give new evidence or show that your circumstances have changed since your first request.